Ian Fleming

NEW YORK — Early in "Skyfall," Judi Dench's M pulls aside our embattled hero, played once again with suave ennui by Daniel Craig, and wonders whether the world still needs either of their services. As Bond wraps his head around that idea, he looks searchingly at his boss. "So this is it?" he wonders. "We're both played out?"

Questions about relevance dangle throughout the new James Bond movie, which opens in the U.S., after a crescendo of marketing, on Nov 9. Field agents are of diminishing importance in an era of cyber-spying and drone warfare, and the uniqueness of Bond's gadgets has been diluted at a time when everyone and their great-aunt carries an...

Related "Ian Fleming" Articles

NEW YORK — Early in "Skyfall," Judi Dench's M pulls aside our embattled hero, played once again with suave ennui by Daniel Craig, and wonders whether the world still needs either of their services. As Bond wraps his head around that idea, he looks...

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — Turtles, rum and glistening white-sand beaches.
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Turtle snorkels in Barbados are very popular. Tourists on a boat don snorkels and masks and quickly enter the...

For sale: custom vintage auto with Hollywood pedigree. Three-liter V-6 engine, polished aluminum hood, serpent horn, wings. Has history of issues with exhaust system.
Sure, you could drop $2.6 million on a Bugatti Veyron to cruise the Sunset Strip, but...

John Barry, a five-time Academy Award-winning composer of movies such as "Born Free" and "Out of Africa" who earned a prominent spot in pop-culture history by writing the scores for 11 James Bond films, including "From Russia With Love" and...